Area north west of London

[Newusernamegeneric]

Hello, wondering if the good people of Mumsnet might be able to suggest an area to move to. My DH has recently lost his job due to covid and we are rapidly growing out of our one bed flat in Greenwich, having had a baby. We did want to move to Pinner or Northwood but on my salary only this isn’t possible.

Our max budget is £650. Would need a reasonable (1 hour?) commute to London and be max around 40 mins drive to family in Wembley.

I’ve looked at places like bushey but am not that much of a fan. Would prefer something more villagey. I love Berkhamsted but it’s very pricey.

We are looking for a minimum three bed with a garden. Thanks so much!

[NewHouseNewMe]

Harrow or Wealdstone? Decent houses for your budget there.

[Newusernamegeneric]

Thanks for your suggestion. Harrow is super urban, I would rather somewhere a bit further out and more leafy for the budget.

[JoJoSM2]

Hitchin is popular and not too far out.

[Bells3032]

Harrow, edgware or borehamwood would prob fit nicely

[Jo4Laurie]

What about Croxley Green, I think a bit cheaper than Northwood?

[Newusernamegeneric]

Thanks all. Hitchin looks really nice. Does anyone know if it’s fairly multi cultural? We’re a mixed race / mixed cultural family and though some might disagree it’s important to me that my kids don’t grow up in a very homogenous town.

[Newusernamegeneric]

Not heard of Croxley green! Will check that out. Do you know if it’s on hs2?

[JoJoSM2]

Does anyone know if it’s fairly multi cultural?

I don’t know Hitchin we’ll but I’d be surprised if you find any cutesy commuter town that’s multicultural as I don’t think I’ve seen one yet.

[twilightcafe]

High Wycombe is half an hour on the train to Marylebone.
Chesham is worth a look. It's at the end of the Metropolitan line.
Otherwise you could try Uxbridge?

[Newusernamegeneric]

@jojo you’re probably right in that. I think I’m searching for a unicorn town. Thank you for the other suggestions I will definitely take a look

[Jo4Laurie]

@Newusernamegeneric it is on Met line and I liked the look when I viewed a place there. Seemed quite down to earth but I don’t know it well!

[MikeUniformMike]

Hitchin isn't very multi-cultural.
High Wycombe is.

I live somewhere multi-cultural and tend to notice if somewhere is mainly white.

More west than north west, Iver is nice and on the mainline to Paddington, but check the timetable for weekend trains.

Gerrards X and Beaconsfield probably expensive.

Burnham, west again, is on the mailine to Paddington .

Uxbridge.

Burnham and Iver are likely to be more a mix of white and asian than mixed race.

[Sssloou]

Which part of central London do you need your 1hr commute to get you to?

[Sssloou]

Do you want a Northwood / Pinner type place - as I wouldn’t consider them village-y at all - or Bushey.

[Newusernamegeneric]

Thank you all! I’m a consultant so I’m all over, but mainly London - so met line or Marylebone both fine. I think of Pinner and Northwood as ‘villagey’ in a Greenwich way but still in London. Unfortunately places like that are obviously v pricey.

Burnham and Iver are good as on cross rail too I think? But is burnham code for slough?

[Newusernamegeneric]

@Sssloou not that keen on bushey but I’ve only seen it once or twice. Well more not keen on Watford and it didn’t seem like a separate enough place to Watford

[snappycamper]

High Wycombe is great for commuting and more diverse than surrounding towns and villages. Beaconsfield and GX are closer to London but expensive

[MikeUniformMike]

Not really @Newusernamegeneric. It is in Bucks. I think you need to make sure that you are in Bucks though.
It borders with Slough.

Parts of Burnham are quite desirable. The high street is sweet and you might bump into a well known politician. There are nice places in Slough (and some not so nice).
Langley too. Cippenham is not bad. A lot of it is fairly new housing.

Iver is more villagey.

West Drayton is a bit more urban

[MikeUniformMike]

Back to Burnham - Taplow is probably more desirable,but you can get £1+ mil property in Burnham.

Slough is only about 2 miles from Windsor on foot and you walk through Eton on the way.

[Longwhiskers14]

High Wycombe (train to Marylebone) is a good bet, as is Amersham (Met Line tube station). HW more multicultural of the two.

[Sssloou]

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-72262368.html

Rickmansworth has a nice vibe with independent shops and restaurants - near nice countryside and on tube

[Newusernamegeneric]

Excellent. Thank you all, I will check those out

[JMG1234]

I know the Northwood/Ricky area well. Parts of Croxley are cheaper, as are some parts of Mill End in Rickmansworth. You pay a premium for any of the local towns here that have a tube or train link, so if you're willing to drive to the station, Chalfont St Peter and Chalfont St Giles may be worth a look.

Also worth looking at places on the Chiltern Line which is much quicker into London (Marylebone) than the Met Line. Last station it stops at before Harrow is Ricky, and Amersham has some non stopping trains. It's 25 minutes into Marylebone from Chorleywood for example.

Downside of living here is the traffic congestion when there's problems on the M25. There are also certain bottlenecks in local roads at rush hour.

[YippieKayakOtherBuckets]

There are some very naice, VERY expensive areas with the SL Slough postcode. Windsor Castle and Eton are both in SL4! There was campaign for a WM Windsor and Maidenhead postcode a few years ago but nothing came of it.

[JMG1234]

Also second that Chesham has some reasonably priced properties relative to the more expensive locations such as Beaconsfield and Gerrards Cross